jack

\ ˈjak

plural jacks

Definition of jack

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a jacks plural in form but singular in construction : a game played with a set of small objects that are tossed, caught, and moved in various figures

b : a small 6-pointed metal object used in the game of jacks

2a : a playing card carrying the figure of a soldier or servant and ranking usually below the queen

b : jackpot sense 1b(2)

3 : any of various usually mechanical devices: such as

a : a usually portable mechanism or device for exerting pressure or lifting a heavy body a short distance

b : a device for turning a spit

4 : a female fitting in an electric circuit used with a plug to make a connection with another circuit

5a : man —usually used as an intensive in such phrases as every man jack

b often capitalized : sailor

c(1) : servant, laborer

(2) : lumberjack

6 : something that supports or holds in position: such as

a : an iron bar at a topgallant masthead to support a royal mast and spread the royal shrouds

b : a wooden brace fastened behind a scenic unit in a stage set to prop it up

7a : any of several fishes especially : any of various carangids

b : a male donkey

c : jackrabbit

d : any of several birds (such as a jackdaw)

8a : a small white target ball in lawn bowling

b : a small national flag flown by a ship

9 slang : money

10a : applejack

b : brandy

11 : jackknife sense 2

12 : monterey jack

13 US slang : anything at all —used in negative constructionsIn short, Dinger or Homer or whoever it was who wrote the Odyssey didn't know jack about travel.— Steve Rushin

jack

verb

jacked; jacking; jacks

Definition of jack (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to move or lift by or as if by a jack

b : to raise the level of —usually used with upjack up the price

c : to take to task

2 : to hunt or fish for at night with a jacklight

intransitive verb

: to hunt or fish at night with a jacklight

Other Words from jack Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about jack

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Synonyms for jack

Synonyms: Noun

bread
[slang],
bucks,
cabbage
[slang],
cash,
change,
chips,
coin,
currency,
dough,
gold,
green,
kale
[slang],
legal tender,
lolly
[British],
long green
[slang],
loot,
lucre,
money,
moola
(or moolah)
[slang],
needful,
pelf,
scratch
[slang],
shekels
(also sheqels or shekelim or shekalim or sheqalim),
tender,
wampum

Synonyms: Verb

Examples of jack in a Sentence

Noun I'd buy that watch, but I don't have the jack right now. a Portuguese ship flying the national jack

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Their father, Tjhing Sen, who also goes by Simon, is a jack-of-all-trades at the restaurant. — Los Angeles Times, "A close-up look at how hard it is to keep a little family restaurant going in a pandemic," 12 Dec. 2020 Pinson Valley senior Jaquel Fells is a jack-of-all-trades for Shade’s team. — al, "Scouts’ view: Breaking down Pinson Valley vs. Spanish Fort in the Class 6A championship," 4 Dec. 2020 Ryan is a jack-of-all-trades for Rebels coach Vince Fanelli, playing catcher, second base and outfield. — Gregg Voss, chicagotribune.com, "Draft kings: Ridgewood seniors Jack Ryan and Frank Magnelli commit to play in college at Triton with eye on MLB draft," 20 Nov. 2020 Dropbox is a bit more of a jack-of-all-trades than the other tools on this list. — Whitson Gordon, Wired, "Google Photos Storage Is Changing. Here Are Your Best Options," 20 Nov. 2020 Bio: From a one-eyed baby doll head with metal spider legs to a hand popping out of a jack-in-a-box, these scary-looking objects are the creations of toy rebuilder Sid. — Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY, "'Toy Story' turns 25: Ranking the best villains," 20 Nov. 2020 His father, Romano Proietti, was a jack-of-all-trades who eventually went to work for the national combustible fuels agency — his dream job, because in public administration in Italy one was hired for life. — Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, "Gigi Proietti, Actor Who Embodied the Roman Spirit, Dies at 80," 6 Nov. 2020 This jack-of-all-trades monitor functions well in a home office and can be easily connected to your laptop or serve equally well as a secondary monitor for your desktop computer. — Allen Foster, chicagotribune.com, "HP 23er review: Can this affordable monitor help with productivity?," 22 Dec. 2020 Another key difference is the new location of the headphone jack on the Peloton Bike+ that is now strategically located in front of the handlebars. — Stefani Sassos, Ms, Rdn, Cso, Good Housekeeping, "Everything You Need to Know About the New Peloton Bike+, According to Our Fitness Experts," 14 Dec. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Andrew Klock, emerging issues lead manager, says the group has put out training on how to extinguish battery fires, then jack up vehicles and douse the batteries with water to limit reignition. — Tom Krisher, ajc, "NTSB says vehicle battery fires pose risks to 1st responders," 13 Jan. 2021 The committee, which released two reports Wednesday outlining their findings, did substantiate a number of incriminating tactics used by drug makers to jack up their prices, but those findings were hardly mentioned in the first hours of the hearing. — Nicholas Florko, STAT, "‘You just got better at making money’: Democrats blast Celgene, Teva for price hikes detailed in internal documents," 30 Sep. 2020 First daughter Ivanka Trump on Thursday trashed an investigation into claims the Trump Organization worked with the 2017 Inaugural Committee to jack up Trump International Hotel rates so her family could get rich. — Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, "Ivanka Trump rips ‘politically motivated’ hit on president's inauguration," 3 Dec. 2020 And the fact that Honda resisted the urge to jack up the price means that the Accord Hybrid Touring remains an outstanding anomaly—a luxurious sedan that gets economy-car mileage, no sacrifices required. — Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, "Tested: 2021 Honda Accord Hybrid Polishes a Winning Formula," 10 Nov. 2020 Professor Krugman also seems to forget how monopolies and cartels exercise their market power, which is to withhold some of their production in order to jack up prices. — Casey B. Mulligan, National Review, "Paul Krugman’s Epic Summer," 21 Oct. 2020 The House Oversight Committee released two major reports Wednesday that expose the internal strategies used by drug makers Celgene and Teva to repeatedly jack up the price of their blockbuster drugs revlimid and copaxone. — Nicholas Florko, STAT, "Congressional investigation reveals Celegene, Teva plotted to keep drug prices high," 30 Sep. 2020 In one case, in March 2014, Celgene CEO Mark Alles, then an executive vice president for the company, demanded that the company immediately jack up the price of revlimid by 4% because the company had not met its first quarter sales goals. — Nicholas Florko, STAT, "Congressional investigation reveals Celegene, Teva plotted to keep drug prices high," 30 Sep. 2020 In June, the New York Times reported users leveraged the app’s reach in a coordinated effort to jack up expecations for the crowd size at Trump’s rally in Tulsa. — cleveland, "Could Microsoft save TikTok from potential Trump ban?," 3 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jack.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.